Locks clicked. The door swung open.
Sammy wore a white t-shirt that was so tight I could see every contour of her body. A skirt covered half of her legs, leaving the rest exposed in a way that I very much appreciated.
Concern filled her thoughts. And, to my dismay, a little fear.
Nami thought, Those are some humongous titties.
I smiled down at her.
She glowered up at me. Flipped me off. Get out of my head, Gigantor.
“What are you doing here?” Sammy asked. She gestured to Nami. “Did you kidnap a little girl?”
“I swear to God, I’m going to shoot the next person who calls me a child.”
Drew stepped forward. “Samantha, you need to come with us.” He trained his eyes on hers, but I could feel his internal struggle as he tried not to stare at her chest.
Hell, we all were. Even Nami, who wasn’t gay, had trouble focusing on Sammy’s face.
“Ash said the same thing, but there is no way that I’m going to leave with—”
“I’m sorry, but it’s for your own safety.” Drew pushed his way inside her apartment.
Nami walked past us and disappeared around the door. “Do you have any food in here?”
“Just let yourselves in, why don’t you?” Samantha called after them.
“Sammy, listen to me.” I stood in front of her. “There are men outside right now who are coming up here to kill you. They just tried to do the same to us.”
“But why would someone want to kill me?” Sammy asked. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“They’re bad men. I don’t want to say anything else, because I’m afraid it will put you in even more danger.”
“More danger than someone wanting to kill me?”
That was a good point. But still, I didn’t want to spill any information that could get her into trouble down the road. If we managed to survive this thing, then she needed to be able to deny any knowledge of the circumstances surrounding me.
“And why are you dressed like that?” Sammy asked.
What’s that burning smell?
The traffic is really loud today.
Frosted Flakes are the best.
The barrage of voices in my head almost made me fall to a knee. I swayed on my feet, but managed to stay upright. There were too many people around for me to fight them off in my weakened condition.
I leaned against the doorjamb, taking some of the pressure off my knee.
“Asher?” Sammy gave me a concerned look, but didn’t move any closer.
Drew came back with a small paring knife.
“Did you go through my kitchen?” Sammy asked.
“Yeah, sorry.”
“You guys need to leave, now.” Sammy put her hands on her hips.
Drew pulled my sleeve up and put the blade against the small bump in my shoulder. “Ready?”
I nodded and clenched my teeth. Waited for the pain.
Sammy’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what are you doing?”
Drew slid the tip of the knife into my shoulder and pulled it down half an inch. Blood welled around the blade and ran down my arm. The pain wasn’t as bad as I expected. It wasn’t even as intense as the throbbing in my knee.
“Stop!” Sammy stepped toward Drew, but I put my hand up and stopped her.
“Let him finish.”
“Finish what? This is insane!”
Drew pulled the knife out and squeezed both sides of the cut with his thumb and forefinger. More blood spilled from the wound, dribbling to the carpet.
The tracking chip slid out, sticking in a crimson blob on his thumb. He released my shoulder and stared at the tiny tracking device.
Sammy stared it. “What is that?”
“They’ve been using it follow us,” I said. “Remember that shot they gave me in the street? This must have been in it.”
I need to call the cops.
I almost responded to her thought when I caught myself. Outing my telepathy probably wouldn’t be the best of ideas just then.
Drew went back into the apartment. Sammy stood in the door, thunderstruck at what she’d just seen and heard. I bled on the floor.
The elevator hummed down the hall.
“Shit.” I stepped inside and pulled the door from Sammy’s grip. It had three locks on it and I worked all of them.
Her apartment was clean and orderly—the exact opposite of mine. The kitchen consisted of dark cabinets, light wood floors, and stainless appliances.
“You can’t just barge into my place like this.”
None of us responded.
I shoved a chair under the doorknob. Whether or not that could actually keep someone from coming in, I didn’t know, but I’d seen it in a lot of movies. That and it made me feel like I was actually doing something.
“They’re coming up the elevator,” I said.
Nami stood in front of the refrigerator, the door hanging open. She took a bite out of an apple.
She paused, mid-chew, when she saw all of us staring at her. “What?” she asked around a mouthful of fruit. “I eat when I’m nervous.
“I’ll take that.” Drew grabbed the apple from her hand and pressed the bloody tracking chip into the meat of it. He ran to an open window by the kitchen table and tossed it outside.
“I was eating that, you asshole.”
Sammy stomped her foot on the floor. “Everyone, stop it! Get out of my apartment! Now!”
We stopped and stared at her.
Then the gunshots started.
Holes punched in the front door.
Blasts shook the floor.
I grabbed Sammy’s arm and yanked her into the kitchen. We fell to the floor and I rolled on top of her, putting my body between her and the shooters.
Nami fell backward into the refrigerator. The shelves knocked over, covering her in food, soda, and milk.
Drew returned fire. He flipped the table over and crouched behind it, shooting over the top.
Drywall exploded as bullets cut through the kitchen in a jagged line across the wall. They worked their way over until they destroyed the cherry cabinets and tile backsplash.
Macaroni showered my back.
Shards of plates and glass broke on the wood around us.
Sammy screamed. I put my hand over her mouth, muzzling her so they wouldn’t hear. So far, they didn’t know where we were in the apartment and they were shooting blind.
Only Drew gave away his position by firing back. He emptied his magazine and fished another from his belt.
Nami extracted herself from the inside of the fridge. Hummus fell from her hair in clumps. The Desert Eagle sat on the floor by her feet.
I held a finger to my lips for Sammy and Nami to see. They both nodded.
Tears formed in the corners of Sammy’s eyes. Panic was overtaking her.
My mind wandered out, feeling around the edges of those in the hallway. They were spaces of nothingness, just as the Man in Black had been.
The shooting ceased for several seconds.
We waited in silence. Smoke wafted in the air.
I leaned close to Sammy and whispered in her ear. “I’ll protect you, I promise. Lead us to your bedroom as quietly, but quickly, as possible.”
Glass tinkled as we stood. The shooting resumed.
I grabbed Nami’s wrist and pulled her close. Said, “Follow me.”
After pointing at the three of us, I motioned to the other side of the apartment. Drew nodded.
When he put two rounds into the door, I got to my feet and pulled Sammy with me.
Debris crunched under foot as we crossed the kitchen, hunched over at the waist.
Nami grabbed the Desert Eagle and followed.
Drew fired twice more before we reached the bedroom.
A queen-size bed with a large headboard above it sat in the middle of the room. Matching dressers and chests stood in front of the walls. A door was in the back right corner.
“Get in the bathroom and close the door,” I said. “Nami, shoot anyone who tries to come through.”
“I’ve never shot a gun in my life.”
“See that on the side? Push it down.”
She did.
“Now point and shoot.” I went to the window and opened it, poking my head out. Wind ruffled my hair.
A ledge, several inches wide, jutted from the wall four feet below the window.
“What are you going to do?” Sammy asked.
“Something really, really stupid. Get in the bathroom.”
Call the cops!
Those stupid kids are playing their loud video games again.
I shook my head, knowing that it wouldn’t help, to blot out the voices of Sammy’s neighbors. Only a lot of rest and booze would accomplish that.
The SUV burned in the street below. People stood on the sidewalks, watching as flames consumed the vehicle. Smoke rose between the buildings. I could smell the burning leather.
Nami closed the door to the bathroom as I sat on the windowsill. I put my good leg through first, not wanting to trust my ravaged knee by itself on the ledge. The gun went into my waistband again.
How many times had I done that today? It was an unnatural movement that struck me every single time.
The wind inflated my shirt as I stepped outside.
I looked at the pavement below. “Ash, what are you thinking?”
Drew shouted something from the front of the apartment. I couldn’t make it out, but it got me moving. He couldn’t have many bullets left. If the government flunkies got inside, we were finished.
I turned around so I faced the building. My fingers slipped across the rough brick as I inched my way along the ledge. My heels were in the air, suspended over the drop to the sidewalk.
A window to the neighboring apartment was ten yards further.
It looked closer to a mile.
A strong gust threatened to blow me away from the building. I leaned as far forward as I could, pressing myself against the brick. The khaki pants flapped against my hamstrings.
Vertigo washed over me as I waited for the gust to die.
I picked up my pace when the wind eased. Another one of those could have ruined my day.
Though it took less than a minute to reach the next window, time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. My body felt like it had aged a decade.
The window was locked.
I broke the glass out with the butt of the pistol and cleared the shards away.
Oh please, oh please, oh please.
I climbed into another bedroom. Heavy metal posters covered the walls. Avenged Sevenfold played on a laptop in the far corner.
A young mother and her fifteen-year-old son hid behind a couch in the living room. I held my hands up so they could see that I wasn’t there to harm them.
They clutched at each other when they saw my gun.
“Please don’t hurt us!” The mother squeezed her son close.
A barrage of gunshots came from next door. A heavy crash followed.
They were trying to break the door down.
“I’m here to help,” I said. “Just stay quiet and keep hidden. This will all be over soon.”
“Are you a policeman?”
“No, but my friend is.”
The teen brushed his long, black hair from his eyes. “Why are you dressed like that?”
I moved to the front door. “That’s a long story. Don’t go into the hall no matter what.”
Nothing was visible through the peephole.
The locks were mercifully quiet as I undid them.
Small squeaks came from the hinges, but the agents were too preoccupied with shooting holes in Sammy’s door to hear them.
Wood splintered. They’d broken through.
I spun into the hall, dropping to my busted knee with a grimace. Only two of the men were still in view—the other had gone inside Sammy’s apartment.
I sighted the nearest man and squeezed off a shot.
The bullet punctured the ribs under his right arm and spun him around.
Aimed at the next shooter.
Held my breath.
Put a round through his heart.
Both of them collapsed to the carpet, writhing in pain. The guns slipped from their hands as they grabbed at their wounds.
The last agent stuck his arm into the hallway and fired blind. The wall to my left burst, puffing dust on my shoulder and face.
I slipped to the right and aimed at the hand as it continued jerking the trigger.
Drew tackled him into the hallway. They tripped over the fallen bodies of the other men and went sprawling. They rolled around, jockeying for control of the pistol.
The agent held onto it and managed to get on top. He grabbed the gun with both hands and forced the end of the barrel toward Drew’s face.
I shot him twice in the back. He slumped onto Drew.
A few shallow breaths lifted his back before he was still.
My adrenaline was redlining as I moved down the hall toward the bodies. I kept the gun out front in case one of them made a play.
Drew pushed the body off him and stood. His suit even had blood on it. We both looked like we’d spent the afternoon in a butcher’s shop.
“Gun empty?” I asked.
“No, I decided to get in a fistfight with an armed man for the hell of it.”
Shit, I thought. Walked right into that one.
Two of the agents were dead. The one with the wound under his arm was crawling toward his pistol. He was one of the men who had picked me up along with the Man in Black.
Drew stepped on his hand. “Tsk, tsk.”
Where the hell are the cops?
Is that fire going to spread to our building?
I needed to get out of the city again. The thunder in my head was starting to resemble a rock concert.
“Get Nami and Sammy,” I said to Drew.
He disappeared through the door.
I grabbed the collar of the agent’s suit and dragged him into the apartment.
“Let go of me, you freak!” He punched my swollen knee.
The pain was immediate and intense. The leg buckled, and I fell onto my hip. Fortunately, I’d fallen in a spot without any broken glass or plates. The agony in my knee radiated up my leg as I spun around and stuck the pistol in the man’s eye.
He winced around it and stopped fighting.
“That wasn’t very nice.”
“Fuck you.” He spat in my face.
Anger boiled inside of me.
I’d barely had a moment’s rest since they’d grabbed me that morning. My body neared a full-on breakdown. My head pounded with a thousand thoughts that weren’t mine. Everyone who’d met me in the last two days was on a hit list.
All day, I’d tried to do the right thing.
And that piece of shit had the gall to spit in my face.
Tried to kill my best friend.
I wanted to know why.
I punched him in the ribs I’d shot.
He howled and doubled over, cradling the wound again.
Drew walked in with Sammy and Nami in tow. Sammy looked around at the ruin of her apartment in disbelief. She picked up the handle of a broken coffee mug and inspected it. Her hair was frazzled and big. Drywall dust covered her face and neck.
A sliver of a thought came from the agent’s head as he held on to his side. Pain had broken his concentration, allowing something to slip through.
I tossed my pistol to Drew. “Watch the elevator.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Find out what the hell is going on.” I looked back at Sammy. “I don’t know what’s going to happen here. You probably don’t want to see this.”
She stared at me.
I shrugged. “Suit yourself. Can you at least get me some bandages and super glue?”
“Super glue?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Sirens came from the street below. It was a sound that I’d become accustomed to lately. We didn’t have much time.
“Just get me some. We have to get out of here before we’re arrested.”
Sammy opened her mouth to say something else when Nami slapped her in the arm.
“Didn’t you just go through the same thing that I did? Those assholes came here to kill us. If you don’t think that Ashley and Mr. Clean are on our side after that, then I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Thanks, Nadine.”
She flipped me off again. I wondered if her finger was permanently stuck in that position.
“I still don’t like you, but you’re my best shot at making it through the day.” She looked up at Sammy. “Now Cthulhu knows why, but the man wants super glue so help me find some.”
Sammy thought about it for a moment before turning around with a theatrical sigh. “What’s a Cthulhu?”
“You’ve never read Lovecraft?” Nami followed her out of the kitchen.
“What’s a Lovingcraft?”
“Never mind.” Nami smacked her forehead. “And put on a shirt. I can’t think straight with those watermelons hanging off your chest. They’re at my eye level, for fuck’s sake. I can’t imagine what they’re doing to Ashley.”
They disappeared into the bedroom again.
I turned back to the man on the floor, my anger continuing to heat up. “So you wanted to kill my friends?” I focused on the sliver coming from the agent’s mind. Grasped it. Entwined it with my own.
It was like looking though a cracked door.
He laughed at me. “Trying to read my mind? Good luck. I’ve been around freaks like you for years.”
I punched him in the ribs again. The crack in the dam widened. I pried at the gap, working at it like an octopus trying to get in a jar.
We stared at each other as we sat motionless.
Sweat beaded on our foreheads. My skin grew hot. The hair on my neck stood on end.
His eyes narrowed.
I pushed harder.
…piece… of… shit… freak…
Blood trickled from his nose. His eyes rolled in their sockets, exposing the whites.
My brain felt too big for my skull, like it was pulsating against the bone.
The other echoes quieted until I heard only fragments of his.
And then the dam burst, and my consciousness flooded into his.
He fell to his back, eyes lolling wildly. His thoughts twisted in manic confusion. My grasp on his mind was loose. I couldn’t focus on his memories or emotions as I usually did.
It was like swimming through mud.
Images of Murdock and President Thomas flashed in my mind’s eye, but I couldn’t make sense of them. Disjointed. Incomprehensible.
Something about the Washington Monument.
Flashbulbs exploded through our linked minds.
Visions of dogs and babies and Christmas trees blinked by in an uncontrollable stream.
Light, blinding and encompassing, swallowed my telepathic hold on him. The pain in my head increased even further.
The agent’s body began convulsing. His hands twisted into claws, his back arching.
Blood ran from the corners of his mouth.
I released him and fell back, sucking in a deep, harsh breath. I hadn’t realized that I’d stopped breathing.
The agent fell slack.
He was dead.